tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post9169519282884246216..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: BAB Firsts - BAB Book Review: Sal Buscema, Comics' Fast and Furious ArtistDoughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-23497093341390020382015-01-22T01:02:28.399-06:002015-01-22T01:02:28.399-06:00To Humanbelly
Hiya,
Quite true, Kirby started ...To Humanbelly<br /><br />Hiya,<br /><br /><br />Quite true, Kirby started several artists off on their Marvel careers by providing layouts for them to pick up on his story telling techniques, chief among these were John Romita on Daredevil and Werner Roth on X-Men.<br /><br />There were also periods when Kirby was producing layouts on several of his regular books, among them Thor and Fantastic Four and relying on the Inkers of the titles to finish them. I've seen scans of the raw pencils from some of these issues and I can safely say that both Sinnott and Colletta served the King well.<br /><br />Yours with fond memories of days past.<br /><br />pfgaviganpfgaviganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05446007678336988354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-52568136189250506872015-01-21T19:25:00.988-06:002015-01-21T19:25:00.988-06:00If I remember my Marvel history correctly, PFG, Ja...If I remember my Marvel history correctly, PFG, Jack Kirby was used a LOT in the very same way in the mid-60's-- doing layouts as the penciller, and the embellisher and/or inker would complete the job. Although not officially designated as such, this might suggest that Sal was in fact representing the Marvel "House Style" at that point. <br /><br />While I didn't care quite as much for the inking style that Sal developed in the 90's, I do recognize it as a conscious effort on his part to expand himself as an artist-- I'm pretty sure he explained it in so many words at one point. That says a lot about a fellow who could just have easily kept working along on autopilot.<br /><br />HBHumanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-83793402015142964762015-01-21T19:14:43.297-06:002015-01-21T19:14:43.297-06:00Sal Buscema is my favorite artist also. His story... Sal Buscema is my favorite artist also. His storytelling is top notch and his characters are always on model. For me his images define many Marvel heroes. Personally I liked some of his earliest work on the Avengers circa issue 70. I thought Sam Grainger did nice inking around that time. Although I also like Sal's inks. His style changed a bit on Peter Parker and ROM but his storytelling was still supreme. Always a fan. Martinex1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-87060414999850857752015-01-21T11:44:05.401-06:002015-01-21T11:44:05.401-06:00Hiya,
I'm of mixed feeling regarding Buscema ...Hiya,<br /><br />I'm of mixed feeling regarding Buscema the Younger. When he's at his best he is very, very good. The art is clear and sharp and the story telling direct and straight forward. There were times during his brief period on "The New Mutants" where you could remove Clairmont's dialogue and still get the gist of what the characters were saying.<br /><br />That is when he is at his best. When he was cranking the pages out, sometimes for four books a month, he took shortcuts. Like all comic book illustrators he had stock characters and figures. It makes sense, use them to speed things up. But when you buy as many comics as I did back then you begin to notice the repetition.<br /><br />Also, to use the term "Inker" in regards to those individuals who provided the final rendition to Buscema raw artwork can be misleading. When he was the "Marvel Workhorse" and turning out all those pages he was delivering primarily layouts. "Embellishers" such as Chan, Colletta, Esposito and many, many others were putting in much of the details, making the artistic decisions based on their own styles.<br /><br />I've seen some of these pages, sometimes you can make out the original pencils. If Buscema had the time he put in a lot of detail, made the work definitely Sal Buscema. If he didn't have the time he provided what were essentially high end layouts and sent them off to the office.<br /><br />Like I said, I am a fan of Sal Buscema, I always knew that I would get a well rendered story from him. It was always a question of just how much Sal Buscema would I be getting.<br /><br />Yours in the sincere hope that I do not offend.<br /><br />pfgaviganpfgaviganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05446007678336988354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-74019334102853006502015-01-21T09:03:58.250-06:002015-01-21T09:03:58.250-06:00I've never read this, but I should probably ad...I've never read this, but I should probably add it to my wish list. Since Sal is the "patron saint" of my blog, this book should be mandatory reading for me.J.A. Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15800901321134394272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-5062981169468221322015-01-21T08:28:47.343-06:002015-01-21T08:28:47.343-06:00Edo, couldn't agree more with you on Staton...Edo, couldn't agree more with you on Staton's inks over Sal. IMO, that was a key element (albeit unsung) in the smooth transition between Herb & Sal on HULK-- 'cause those are two pencilers with very, very distinctive styles. Staton's inks (which looked great over Herb also) went a long way toward providing a subtle feeling of visual continuity. But yeah, Sal was generally his own best inker. In fact, didn't we read 'round here somewhere that Sal really preferred inking to penciling? That he kind of thought of himself as Inker-First?<br /><br />HBHumanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-8185055689634021842015-01-21T07:24:42.731-06:002015-01-21T07:24:42.731-06:00It's always interesting to when the topic of i...It's always interesting to when the topic of inkers comes up, and pencilers comment on the ones they liked best - primarily because us fans often tend to disagree with them. In the post, Doug mentions his surpise about John preferring Adkins, and I have to say I find it odd that Sal wasn't fond of Esposito, Chan and Staton. I thought all three of them did pretty solid work over Sal's pencils (Staton in particular). However, I have to say that in all phases of his career, Sal was by far his own best inker.Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-53225764282879958452015-01-21T06:55:40.943-06:002015-01-21T06:55:40.943-06:00This book was one of a couple of things that I had...This book was one of a couple of things that I had made a mental note (meaning I didn't write it down) to put high on the ol' Christmas list this year, and then of course I couldn't remember a single thing once December rolled around, and gift idea requests came pounding at my mental door.<br /><br />Yeah, I'm all over the place on record 'round here with my declaration of Sal as my favorite Bronze Age artist. "Best" and "Favorite" may not be exactly synonymous, as it turns out-- is my own spaghetti the Best I've ever had? No, probably not-- but there's no question that it's my Favorite. (And ironically, I'm sure I have more than a couple of issues of Sal's books that have spaghetti sauce stains in the pages.)<br /><br />Naturally I hugely associate Sal with the Hulk-- and given what a staunch Trimpe fan I was (even as his work started to decline on that title), I was NOT predisposed to welcome Sal onto that book when Herbie left it. And it was a brilliant personnel move, clearly. No matter what title it is, or what characters are involved-- if Sal stepped in, there was never a jolt. The Hulk may have been unique, in fact, in that the book went for DECADES with, gosh, basically three or four regular pencilers? Trimpe and Buscema-- a little bit of Taloc-- and then I think McFarlane and Purvis carried him for quite awhile before the title got mired in the 90's trend of "hot" artist carouseling.<br /><br />Sal's simple portrayal of Greenskin's shattering heartbreak over the final death of Jarella (w/ Valkyrie trying to comfort him) is something that I can't even think about w/out tearing up, I must confess.<br /><br />HBHumanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-90051159630668100882010-04-04T23:23:16.855-05:002010-04-04T23:23:16.855-05:00Actually, don't mean to post so much, but Sal&...Actually, don't mean to post so much, but Sal's artistry was SO COOL back in '73/'74 that I started collecting the Defenders line as well, especially since I was a Hawkeye fan from the reprints and the Avengers/Defenders cross-over. <br /><br />I became a HUGH Yellowjacket fan because of Sal's artistry (#23) in the Defenders Serpent story arc. NO ONE drew YJ better than Sal, George Perez being a good runner-up.david_bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00218727673816200051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-48720338028041456742010-04-04T05:11:29.986-05:002010-04-04T05:11:29.986-05:00I'm sure there's many reasons why Frank Ro...I'm sure there's many reasons why Frank Robbins' art was so despised (hate to say that because I'm sure he was a very nice man..), but the one that comes to mind was Sal always gave his characters such 'gravitas' (weight), well-sculptured/chiseled features, and excellent action sequences. If you looked at Robbin's art, it was almost the antithesis of that, more wobble, awkward, less defined depth, call it what you may. <br /><br />A Herb Trimpe, Colan, or anyone perhaps well-known style-wise could have pulled it off. Robbins?? After Sal's extended run of drawing Cap?? It was a terrible idea. Thanks again for the GREAT posts!david_bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00218727673816200051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-35954443433904434772010-04-03T12:42:52.861-05:002010-04-03T12:42:52.861-05:00Hey, everyone --
I just put a poll up about Sal, ...Hey, everyone --<br /><br />I just put a poll up about Sal, so give us a vote!<br /><br />I was the first to vote (natch), and gave the nod to Marvel Team-Up. I was never a big Hulk fan, with the exceptions David cited. I enjoyed his run on Cap off and on, and also like David said, the Robbins art killed the book for me. Perhaps my longest following of Sal, beside MTU, was in the Peter Parker book. <br /><br />Sal's just a solid artist -- nothing flashy, but just good all the time.<br /><br />DougDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-16443438447257199092010-04-03T05:41:28.531-05:002010-04-03T05:41:28.531-05:00I didn't read much of the Hulk back then.., un...I didn't read much of the Hulk back then.., unless he had some cross-over guest stars.. Sal's rendition of Captain America is TOPS on virtually everyone's list, easily in Englehart's 'Secret Empire' saga, but in the years before that.. <br /><br />I nearly STOPPED collecting Cap when Robbins came in to ruin the beautiful art I came to expect. <br /><br />His work on Avengers was typically excellent, but first and foremost to me was his work on Cap and Falc.<br /><br />Sal was my REAL hero..!!david_bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00218727673816200051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-76988949181324186932010-04-02T23:05:47.288-05:002010-04-02T23:05:47.288-05:00Happy to provide the review, gents. It's real...Happy to provide the review, gents. It's really a fun read, and as I said, it's a feast for the eyes as well. <br /><br />There was a super-limited hardcover edition that a sketch by Sal, but I understand those 100 copies sold out pretty quickly!!<br /><br />DougDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-57543409884466132142010-04-02T11:12:11.447-05:002010-04-02T11:12:11.447-05:00Since I came into comics in the mid-70s, Sal alway...Since I came into comics in the mid-70s, Sal always seemed like THE Hulk artist to me. But really, he left his mark all over Marvel in the '70s and early '80s; there was hardly a title he didn't work on. My personal favorites are his work in Marvel Team-up, Rom and Tarzan (and I'm always partial to Marvel's Tarzan just because the first half of the series was penciled by John, and the second by Sal. Pure awesome).<br />Anyway, thanks for the review, this book is definitely on my want list...Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-73338247026461772142010-04-02T06:46:08.089-05:002010-04-02T06:46:08.089-05:00Being a huge fan of the Hulk, I'm also a big f...Being a huge fan of the Hulk, I'm also a big fan of Sal's art. I'm gonna have to get this book. Thanks for the review.Erickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04443459880949094998noreply@blogger.com